The CRONIC-PPF Faculty

	Julia KARGL (former STURM) Assoz. Prof. Priv.-Doz. Mag. rer. nat. PhD The CCL20-dependent fibrotic niche: interactions between ATII cells, fibroblasts and immune cells
Deputy Chair of the Division of Pharmacology, Otto Loewi Research Center Division of Pharmacology, Otto Loewi Research Centre, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstraße 6, 8010 Graz Phone: +43-316-385 74105, ✉ e-mail WWW: Forschungsportal Med Uni Graz ORCID: 0000-0002-0870-0816 PubMed: PubMed (nih.gov)
• Profile      • Curriculum vitae     • Publications

Julia Kargl is an immunologist and pharmacologist. Her research focuses on the discovery of novel pro- and anti-tumorigenic mediators within the lung. The Kargl lab uses a comprehensive platform to profile the immune landscape of lung disease, specifically investigating neutrophil and T-cell function in patients and preclinical models. Within the CRONIC-PPF project, she provides expertise in immune phenotyping and myeloid cell signaling.

Project

Research interests

1. Decoding immune cell phenotypes and functional heterogeneity in cancer and COPD: My research identifies how chronic inflammatory conditions, such as COPD and cancer, reprogram the immune landscape to influence both disease progression and therapeutic response. (Busch et al., 2016 [↗]; Kargl et al., 2017 [↗]; Mark et al., 2018 [↗]; Veatch et al., 2018 [↗]; Lastwika et al., 2019 [↗]; Kargl et al., 2019 [↗]; Valadez-Cosmes et al., 2021 [↗]; Kienzl et al., 2021 [↗]; Zhang et al., 2022 [↗])
2. Mechanistic role of neutrophil-derived enzymes in lung cancer growth and fibrosis: Moving beyond cellular enumeration, my work focuses on how neutrophil-secreted enzymes like myeloperoxidase (MPO) and neutrophil elastase act as local signaling modulators that promote tumor survival and tissue remodeling. (Gregory et al., 2015 [↗]; Metz et al., 2016 [↗]; Valadez-Cosmes et al., 2023 [↗]; Cosic-Mujkanovic et al., 2023 [↗])
3. Inflammatory dysregulation and innate–adaptive crosstalk in early pregnancy: This research examines how tightly regulated inflammation is required for a successful pregnancy. It explores mechanisms of dysregulation in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and recurrent pregnancy loss, with a focus on the role of maternal neutrophils and myeloid enzymes at the feto–maternal interface. (Gorsek Sparovec et al., 2022 [↗]; Kuentzel et al., 2022 [↗]; Vondra et al., 2023 [↗]; Mihalic et al., 2023a [↗]; Mihalic et al., 2023b [↗])

   05.04.2026 CRONIC-PPF · Doctoral Programme “Clinical & Research Oriented Network for Innovative Classification of Progressive Pulmonary Fibrosis”